A seven-months-pregnant woman whose unborn baby had died was sent home from hospital with a booklet for bereaved parents and told to book a slot to give birth.
asserted
baby → die → birth
Danielle Brown, 31, had been discharged from hospital with pre-eclampsia, a potentially life-threatening pregnancy complication.
asserted
Brown → discharge → eclampsia
She returned to hospital days later where scans revealed that her daughter, Maisie, had died at about 29 weeks.
asserted
daughter → return → weeks
Brown said she was devastated to have to return home knowing the baby she was carrying was no longer alive.
asserted
she → say → ?
“When it was confirmed Maisie had died, we burst into tears.
asserted
we → confirm → tears
Nobody explained what had happened to Maisie,” she said.
asserted
she → explain → Maisie
Brown, from North Shields in north-east England, said she was then “given a booklet for bereaved parents and told to book a slot to give birth”.
asserted
she → say → birth
She said: “Hearing that with no compassion angered me so much.”
asserted
Hearing → say → me
Brown and her partner, Anthony Miller, were delighted to be expecting a baby but seven months into the pregnancy, in February 2023, she fell ill and was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia.
asserted
she → delight → eclampsia
Monitoring by doctors at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), Newcastle, had also raised concerns about Maisie’s heart rate.
asserted
Monitoring → monitor → rate
A consultant obstetrician said Brown should remain in hospital until she gave birth, given her potentially life-threatening condition.
asserted
she → say → condition
However, she was discharged 24 hours later on 14 February after a review by a different consultant.
asserted
she → discharge → consultant
A day later, Brown phoned the RVI’s maternity assessment unit with more concerns but was told she probably had a stomach bug.
asserted
she → phone → bug
She insisted on being seen and returned to the hospital, waited 90 minutes to be assessed, and was told medics could not find Maisie’s heartbeat.
uncertain
medics → insist → heartbeat
The couple were then told that their baby had died.
asserted
baby → tell → ?
Instead of delivering Maisie straight away, Brown said she was handed a booklet for bereaved parents and told to book a slot to give birth on another day,
asserted
she → deliver → day
Brown spoke of her ordeal after being awarded an undisclosed settlement from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS foundation trust.
asserted
Brown → speak → trust
The trust admitted a breach of duty and that Maisie would have survived had her mother not been sent home during her first admission.
asserted
mother → admit → admission
Faisal Ali, of the solicitors Irwin Mitchell, said pre-eclampsia was serious and required close monitoring.
asserted
eclampsia → say → monitoring
“What happened to Danielle and Maisie vividly highlights the human cost of care failings and how families left needing answers and access to specialist support are left trying to pick up the pieces,” he said.
asserted
he → happen → pieces
“Sadly, this isn’t an isolated case and we represent hundreds of families nationally affected by maternity failings.
asserted
we → represent → failings
“Put simply, maternity services aren’t good enough, resulting in mums and babies being put at risk because of deep-rooted problems nationally.”
The couple have since had a son, Harrison, who is two.
asserted
who → put → son
“While we feel so blessed to have Harrison, it remains difficult knowing Maisie should be here with us too.
asserted
Maisie → feel → us
She will always be part of our family,” Brown said.
asserted
Brown → say → family
“More needs to be done not only to improve maternity care but also, when something goes wrong, families need proper and compassionate support.
“After saying goodbye to Maisie, we had to walk through a labour ward seeing parents going home with their babies.
asserted
parents → do → babies
That will stay with me for ever.”
asserted
That → stay → me
Ian Joy, an executive director at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS foundation trust, said: “Maisie’s family have experienced a devastating loss which has undoubtedly had a profound effect on everyone who loved her.
asserted
who → say → her
“We fully accept that aspects of the care we provided fell short of the standards the family had every right to expect and offer a heartfelt apology for this.
asserted
family → accept → this
Following a detailed review in 2023, we improved urgent assessment for women who come to our maternity services with unexpected symptoms or suspected complications.”
asserted
who → follow → symptoms
The trust had recently been assessed as performing well against national standards, Joy said.
asserted
Joy → assess → standards
The Aporia
